One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans and their families, released the following statement from Executive Director Daniel Ramos in reaction to the news that President Trump has nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court: “President Trump continues to pursue his anti-LGBTQ agenda with his nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. With this nomination, basic rights and protections LGBTQ Coloradans rely on are now at serious risk — including the ability to adopt and foster children, protection from discrimination in employment, housing, and public spaces; and the ability to get health insurance even if you have a pre-existing condition.
“I am calling on Colorado’s U.S. Senators, Michael Bennet, and Cory Gardner, to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to thoroughly and closely examine this nominee and make sure he unequivocally acknowledges and respects full equality under the law for LGBTQ Americans. The stakes are too high for this process to be rushed or taken lightly.”
One Colorado is urging people to contact Sen. Cory Scott Gardner at 202-224-5941 or via email at www.gardner.senate.gov and Sen. Michael Bennet at 202-224-5852 or via email at www.bennet.senate.gov or go to one-colorado.org and join their efforts in reaching Colorado Senators.
Also, Colorado Speaker Crisanta Duran and Majority Leader KC Becker weighed in on Kavanaugh.
“The fate of civil and voting rights, reproductive freedoms and worker protections all hang in the balance with this Supreme Court nominee,” said Speaker Duran, D-Denver. “There’s too much at stake for Colorado in this fight. Democrats, unaffiliated voters and anyone who cares about the future of our democracy should be able to have a voice on this paramount decision. I urge Senators Bennet and Gardner to do anything they can to postpone this vote.”
“We can’t allow a Supreme Court nominee handpicked by the far-right and special interests to determine the future of our country,” said Majority Leader Becker, D-Boulder. “Colorado cannot afford an anti-environment justice who could roll back protections for the air we breathe and of our public lands. We won’t back down now and urge our Senators to delay this vote.”
In June, Speaker Duran, Majority Leader Becker and Minority Leader Leroy García, D-Pueblo urged US Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet to try to postpone a Senate vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed the retiring Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court until at least January 2019, after the November elections.
The letter quotes Sen. Gardner as saying in 2016, “Our next election is too soon and the stakes are too high. The American people deserve a role in this process as the next Supreme Court Justice will influence the direction of this country for years to come.”
